Circle Dancing

[Peter writes] This article was due for publication last weekend… but nothing’s ever that simple! Having noticed a few problems with the cabling that delivers the internet from our satellite receiver across the compound site, I set about repairs last weekend. Saturday’s work went swimmingly, but on Monday afternoon I began to get the sinking feeling that everything had gone horribly wrong… and I was now responsible for depriving everyone of their connections!

Cue frantic research, with little result. By a huge stroke of good fortune, this week of the year would normally see us working at the excellent New Wine Ireland Conference in Sligo, on Ireland’s glorious west coast. (Something I’m dearly missing this year, I have to say.) This meant that lots of “knowledgeable” types were all in one place at the same time! A lengthly e-mail was dispatched forthwith (from the office, the only place where we still had a connection.) Without fail, within 48 hours of my initial (and I’m told, fairly amusing) despair, Andrew had pointed out something blatantly obvious which I had missed and the problem had been repaired.

Moreover, our slightly flimsy junction box has been rehoused in a rainproof steel case – so hopefully that should keep everyone’s Facebook-browsing ticking over slightly more reliably!

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So anyway, back to last week’s highlight. With procedures now fully underway at the Fistula Center, the staff arranged a bit of a celebration last Friday night with one of their favourite activities – circle dancing!

Ladies dance in the background as the singers get underway.

For a Northern Irish comparison, you could cast your mind back to any socials or céilidh you have ever attended. There was live music at the front, with the band on the steps at the front of the Fistula Center…

CSL’s multitalented S. was on bass… until it broke, and he switched to guitar!

…and some of the singers doubled as leaders for the dancing, demonstrating how to perform the shuffling steps forward and back in a line.

The ladies were capable of some very choreographed moves!

Also comparable to my memories of socials, most of the men clung to sitting and watching for as long as was humanly possible, before eventually being dragged up to take part near the end. It was such a breathtaking performance, I dare not show any pictures. (That, and my camera battery conveniently ran flat.) So here’s a picture of the lead singers instead.

A lot of the songs were recognisable from church, which reflects the general tone of Hausa worship! Can’t really imagine line dancing to “Thine Be The Glory”…

The Fistula staff try to regularly have events on to help provide a high standard of care for their patients, many of whom are extremely vunerable and in the midst of a critical stage of a traumatic life experience. This week, they projected a film down at the patient village – remember, some of these patients will come from extremely rural communities, where they may never have seen moving pictures before!

I think, though, that circle dancing remains one of their favourite ways to socialise, whether taking part or watching the nurses and staff having a go. Nigeriens and westerners together, it was quite a sight – though perhaps one group were a lot more coordinated than the other!